2017 Volume 11 Pages 15-28
The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) ran from 2005 to 2014. This study concerns the concepts of Sustainable Development (SD) and ESD. The term “sustainable development” was coined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987 as the key word in integrating environment and development. SD achieved international consensus at the 1992 Earth Summit, at which Agenda 21 was formulated to promote ESD. The resolution to implement the Decade of ESD was then adopted at the 2002 Johannesburg Summit. In this study, therefore, we follow historical developments in ESD in Japan in the context of environmental and development education.
Environmental education originated in conservation, pollution, and outdoor education, respectively. After the 1992 Earth Summit, the Japanese government implemented environmental education in public schools, originally in science classes, and limited at first to education on the natural environment. This led to the acceptance of ESD after 2005, including not only its natural but also its economic, social, and cultural aspects.
Meanwhile, development education in Japan commenced in the 1980s, and focused on development issues in the Global South. However, following the Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning in 1997, the Development Education Association and Resource Center (DEAR) widened its remit to cover such global issues as the environment, human rights, gender, and multi-culturalism. During the Decade of ESD, the DEAR implemented projects on development of an ESD curriculum, training of facilitators for participatory learning, and promotion of ESD networking in the Asia-Pacific region. We analyze two model curricula proposed by the DEAR in 2000 and 2010, which aimed to connect local and global issues through participatory learning. We further analyze the DEAR ESD curriculum in view of environmental education. Finally, we suggest future developments in ESD related to the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (GAP) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
